tricks for avoiding germs

[LouLou]

I thought there's been a lot of talk about passing of germs in hospitals, schools, etc. Sort of makes me feel on edge. Counter-productive I feel so maybe we can make this beneficial by sharing... How do you personally avoid germs?

Here are my tricks:

1. After washing hands in a public place - keep paper towel to turn of water spicket and open the door (enough customers are doing this that most businesses place the garbage can close to the door so you can throw it out once you hook the door with your foot).
2. Wash hands whenever you arrive somewhere
3. Don't touch handrails - glide hand above just in case I need to grab on.
4. When you have house guests, don't use the hand towel everyone else is using.
5. Insist that the dr. wash his/her hands before shaking your hand.
6. Use shirttails in hand to open dirty door knobs.
7. Always make sure my nebs are completed dry before using them.
8. Use credit card whenever possible - I've heard 99% of cash either has feces or cocaine on it.
9. 24 hr. rule for dirty dishes - no dirty dish in sink for longer than 24 hrs.
10. ***This is my newest - learned from another CF'er*** Don't keep cut flowers for longer than 3 days.

How many of your clinics make you wait in a waiting room? I recently moved and my new center left me in the waiting room for 45 min. this last time. At my 2 previous clinics I was put into a private, cleaned room immediately upon arrival. No longer! Next time I'm going to give them my cellphone # and then can call me when they have a room ready. Why not? Restaurants do it all the time. This way I can go wait somewhere else where the CF germs like cepacia might not be. When I acted concerned about this last time the told me that cepacia and MRSA aren't airborn so waiting rooms are not a problem. Hey I don't want to be the ginnea pig. Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[LouLou]

I thought there's been a lot of talk about passing of germs in hospitals, schools, etc. Sort of makes me feel on edge. Counter-productive I feel so maybe we can make this beneficial by sharing... How do you personally avoid germs?

Here are my tricks:

1. After washing hands in a public place - keep paper towel to turn of water spicket and open the door (enough customers are doing this that most businesses place the garbage can close to the door so you can throw it out once you hook the door with your foot).
2. Wash hands whenever you arrive somewhere
3. Don't touch handrails - glide hand above just in case I need to grab on.
4. When you have house guests, don't use the hand towel everyone else is using.
5. Insist that the dr. wash his/her hands before shaking your hand.
6. Use shirttails in hand to open dirty door knobs.
7. Always make sure my nebs are completed dry before using them.
8. Use credit card whenever possible - I've heard 99% of cash either has feces or cocaine on it.
9. 24 hr. rule for dirty dishes - no dirty dish in sink for longer than 24 hrs.
10. ***This is my newest - learned from another CF'er*** Don't keep cut flowers for longer than 3 days.

How many of your clinics make you wait in a waiting room? I recently moved and my new center left me in the waiting room for 45 min. this last time. At my 2 previous clinics I was put into a private, cleaned room immediately upon arrival. No longer! Next time I'm going to give them my cellphone # and then can call me when they have a room ready. Why not? Restaurants do it all the time. This way I can go wait somewhere else where the CF germs like cepacia might not be. When I acted concerned about this last time the told me that cepacia and MRSA aren't airborn so waiting rooms are not a problem. Hey I don't want to be the ginnea pig. Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

[anonymous]

We had a doctor at a previous clinic who never appeared to use hand sanitizer or wash his hands. I ordered up buttons from another CF website that say "Have you washed your hands...and stethescope"

As far as MRSA and Cepacia not being airborne, so waiting rooms are safe... We have to check in at the main registration desk, then we give our file to the receptionist upstairs at the CF clinic, they usually had me a clip board with "community pen" to fill out some forms... We're still touching the same surfaces everyone else at CF clinic is touching.

Last time DS was hospitalized, the RTs would go from room to room wearing the same scrubs. They'd wash their hands when they entered the room, but then would reach in their scrubs pockets and pull out tubes of saline or atrovent and the "community bottle of albuterol". Ewwww!

 

[anonymous]

We had a doctor at a previous clinic who never appeared to use hand sanitizer or wash his hands. I ordered up buttons from another CF website that say "Have you washed your hands...and stethescope"

As far as MRSA and Cepacia not being airborne, so waiting rooms are safe... We have to check in at the main registration desk, then we give our file to the receptionist upstairs at the CF clinic, they usually had me a clip board with "community pen" to fill out some forms... We're still touching the same surfaces everyone else at CF clinic is touching.

Last time DS was hospitalized, the RTs would go from room to room wearing the same scrubs. They'd wash their hands when they entered the room, but then would reach in their scrubs pockets and pull out tubes of saline or atrovent and the "community bottle of albuterol". Ewwww!

 

[thelizardqueen]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>LouLou</b></i><br>This way I can go wait somewhere else where the CF germs like cepacia might not be. When I acted concerned about this last time the told me that cepacia and MRSA aren't airborn so waiting rooms are not a problem. Hey I don't want to be the ginnea pig. Anyone have thoughts on this?<hr></blockquote>

Cepacia and MRSA are airborn. They can sit on a surface for 48 hours I believe. I was always told that in order to better protect myself from Cepacia and MRSA in a waiting room, I should not touch anything. These are things that I do/do not do in a waiting room:

1. I do not touch any table top surface or magazine (who knows who's touched it before you).

2. When sitting in a waiting room be in ER or Clinic. I make a habit of putting my mouth and nose under my shirt collar, so as not to breath in germs (I should really get a mask of some sort, because I'm sure I look like a tool sitting around with my collar up around my nose).

3. I wash my hands with anti-bacterial hand sanitizer when I arrive at the clinic waiting room, when I leave the waiting room to go to see my doc, when I get in the room to see my doc, when I leave the docs room, and when I've left clinic.

4. When opening doors, or having to touch a guard rail, etc. I cover my hand with my shirt tail or sleeve, so that there is no direct contact.

The fact that they told you that Cepacia or MRSA is not airborn is dumb. How else do they think you'll catch it?

 

[thelizardqueen]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr><i>Originally posted by: <b>LouLou</b></i><br>This way I can go wait somewhere else where the CF germs like cepacia might not be. When I acted concerned about this last time the told me that cepacia and MRSA aren't airborn so waiting rooms are not a problem. Hey I don't want to be the ginnea pig. Anyone have thoughts on this?<hr></blockquote>

Cepacia and MRSA are airborn. They can sit on a surface for 48 hours I believe. I was always told that in order to better protect myself from Cepacia and MRSA in a waiting room, I should not touch anything. These are things that I do/do not do in a waiting room:

1. I do not touch any table top surface or magazine (who knows who's touched it before you).

2. When sitting in a waiting room be in ER or Clinic. I make a habit of putting my mouth and nose under my shirt collar, so as not to breath in germs (I should really get a mask of some sort, because I'm sure I look like a tool sitting around with my collar up around my nose).

3. I wash my hands with anti-bacterial hand sanitizer when I arrive at the clinic waiting room, when I leave the waiting room to go to see my doc, when I get in the room to see my doc, when I leave the docs room, and when I've left clinic.

4. When opening doors, or having to touch a guard rail, etc. I cover my hand with my shirt tail or sleeve, so that there is no direct contact.

The fact that they told you that Cepacia or MRSA is not airborn is dumb. How else do they think you'll catch it?

 

[Faust]

My sister cleans our house, does a real good job of it too. Well we had a nasty black nodule growth ring in the toilet bowl, and while I was taking my morning pee and looking at it, I thought "Man, I wonder what kind of nasty bugs I'd get if I scraped some of that off, mixed it with some albuterol, and nebbed it". I think of crap like that all the time. I'm sure it would be real nasty E. coli and a ton of other nasty stuff.

 

[Faust]

My sister cleans our house, does a real good job of it too. Well we had a nasty black nodule growth ring in the toilet bowl, and while I was taking my morning pee and looking at it, I thought "Man, I wonder what kind of nasty bugs I'd get if I scraped some of that off, mixed it with some albuterol, and nebbed it". I think of crap like that all the time. I'm sure it would be real nasty E. coli and a ton of other nasty stuff.

 

[LouLou]

I've heard some germs aren't airborn - not that they know what they are talking about with b.cepacia. Some germs have to be transferred into the body. That's why we all learned that picking our nose, sticking our fingers in our eyes and mouth, etc. is dirty when we were little. Anyone know for sure?

 

[LouLou]

I've heard some germs aren't airborn - not that they know what they are talking about with b.cepacia. Some germs have to be transferred into the body. That's why we all learned that picking our nose, sticking our fingers in our eyes and mouth, etc. is dirty when we were little. Anyone know for sure?

 

[anonymous]

Know more about MRSA than I ever wanted to learn.
MRSA isn't airborne. It's spread by contact - hand to hand to nose/mouth/eyes, etc.
See <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_healthcareFS.html">http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_healthcareFS.html</a> for recommendations on preventing spread in hospitals.

 

[anonymous]

Know more about MRSA than I ever wanted to learn.
MRSA isn't airborne. It's spread by contact - hand to hand to nose/mouth/eyes, etc.
See <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_healthcareFS.html">http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_healthcareFS.html</a> for recommendations on preventing spread in hospitals.

 

[Landy]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that is germ phobic. I've wondered before if I'm the only one that takes extreme measures--I'm glad I'm not alone. I feel like we have to be that way to a certain point.
And I have a hard time swallowing the fact that MRSA and Cepacia aren't airborne. If someone next to me with either had sneezed on me. or even near me and I inhaled the air, I'm pretty positive that I could catch something. As a matter of fact, I've already caught MRSA someplace--I'll probably never know exactly where.
I do a lot of the things already mentioned. I carry a canister of Wet Ones wipes in my car & use them anytime I have gotten out of the car for anything. Especially when I've handled grocery carts, gas pumps, money or door knobs. I too use my sleeves, foot, or both to open doors.
Also when in waiting rooms or exam rooms, I take my own reading material to read & don't even rest my arms on the arm rests on the chairs if I can help it. I also always have a pen on hand to use so I don't use the community pen.
I did have to ask one of my doctors (not my CF Dr) if he had washed his hands when I knew he had just came from the hospital on his rounds & to my surprise he said "no". He sure was washing them a few seconds later! I felt kind of weird asking him to do this but I'm glad I did.
I'm sure there's a word for all of us germ phobics <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif" border="0">

 

[Landy]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that is germ phobic. I've wondered before if I'm the only one that takes extreme measures--I'm glad I'm not alone. I feel like we have to be that way to a certain point.
And I have a hard time swallowing the fact that MRSA and Cepacia aren't airborne. If someone next to me with either had sneezed on me. or even near me and I inhaled the air, I'm pretty positive that I could catch something. As a matter of fact, I've already caught MRSA someplace--I'll probably never know exactly where.
I do a lot of the things already mentioned. I carry a canister of Wet Ones wipes in my car & use them anytime I have gotten out of the car for anything. Especially when I've handled grocery carts, gas pumps, money or door knobs. I too use my sleeves, foot, or both to open doors.
Also when in waiting rooms or exam rooms, I take my own reading material to read & don't even rest my arms on the arm rests on the chairs if I can help it. I also always have a pen on hand to use so I don't use the community pen.
I did have to ask one of my doctors (not my CF Dr) if he had washed his hands when I knew he had just came from the hospital on his rounds & to my surprise he said "no". He sure was washing them a few seconds later! I felt kind of weird asking him to do this but I'm glad I did.
I'm sure there's a word for all of us germ phobics <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Mysophobe?

 

[anonymous]

Mysophobe?

 

[kybert]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr> Well we had a nasty black nodule growth ring in the toilet bowl<hr></blockquote>

what IS that black ring? my toilet always grows that when im on IV anti biotics! i end up having to scrub it off everyday.

 

[kybert]

<blockquote>Quote<br><hr> Well we had a nasty black nodule growth ring in the toilet bowl<hr></blockquote>

what IS that black ring? my toilet always grows that when im on IV anti biotics! i end up having to scrub it off everyday.

 

[anonymous]

I've found if I drain the toilet, pour 2 cups of bleach, 1/2 cup liquid lysol in it, scrub really good, let it set for 10-15 minutes and then flush, things don't grow in it and it doesn't get stained like it did with the toilet bowl cleaners. I only have to do it once weekly. I think the bleach makes the surface slicky or something

 

[anonymous]

I've found if I drain the toilet, pour 2 cups of bleach, 1/2 cup liquid lysol in it, scrub really good, let it set for 10-15 minutes and then flush, things don't grow in it and it doesn't get stained like it did with the toilet bowl cleaners. I only have to do it once weekly. I think the bleach makes the surface slicky or something